HTPC Antec Fusion Remote Max

[Cody_Irwin]

First of all I would like to thank Cougar Germany, as well as Asetek for proving me the following.


Asetek... custom Asetek LC (Custom cooler is aluminum cold plate, 120mm radiator, low profile pump, rubber tubes. Similar to the H40 but not completely)
asetek.com


Cougar... 3x 120mm Cougar Vortex HDB fans as well as 1x 140mm Cougar Vortex HDB Fan.
Cougar-world.com


Heres a sneek peek of what it can do via OC'ing.


THIS IS ASUS AUTO TUNER!, Idk if I can get better with manual to be like 1.3v or something, so let me know guys hah.







Antec Fusion Remote Max Chassis
I5 2500k
Asetek Liquid cooler
Cougar 120mm and 140mm Vortex HDB Fans
Cougar CMX 700watt PSU
8gb (2x4gb) Kingston Memory, Limited edition 1600mhz
Zotac GTX 460amp! 1gb factory OC'ed
Asus p8p67 pro, May be using a diff asus board no clue yet, Wish I had a ROG One but sadly I dont.
a nice wireless card from asus
And some Antec formula 7 TIM






Will post building pics ASAP or very slowly... Not sure max limit to the Text so going to post a few Reserve spots incase.




Here we have all the the components to make this build. =)





Following up to the pic, heres the inside of the Antec fusion remote max. Quite a nice little case for a Monster HTPC for full sized components. Personally would have liked a better Cable management system such as on the side of the Removable HDD Cage, a Hole on the bottom for all the front panel connectors (ALOT) to go through the side of it.





Here, We have all the accessories for the case such as the Remote, 20/20+4 pin connector to allow the use of the Remote, to actually power ON/Off the PC in a FULL shutdown and power on as well from the remote. Oh how I love Laziness =). Also the spare FRONT 120mm Fan Holder to use if you remove the HDD Cage.







Got the Front panel connectors, and the fans. Fans are being removed to allow New fans.









Fans Be GONE!!!!!!!!!!!



Oops, forgot to remove the Black thingy for w/e it was for since I was not using it did not bother to read about it hahaha.





Here comes some Color! Cougars 140mm Vortex HDB Fans which have a Nice look personally to me. I cant believe how quiet they are and how much they push.

[Cody_Irwin]

Installing the 140mm Cougar fan, Using the Rubber grommets till I know that I will not have to remove it.







Starting to remove the HDD Cage, and getting a look inside of it.







Removed half of the cage, here you see the mounting for the HDD's and a Filter thats removable from the Front of the case, Talk about Ease of access!. Personally, that hole where the 5.25in bay should have gone ENTIRELY through instead of just being there TBH, That should have been a Optional Cable mangement route for the front panel connectors, which I was quite sad about.







Next getting the 120mm Vortex Cougar fan ready for the Front panel to blow some air onto the GPU, which is a GREAT Optional fan to have. Especially when doing this build.





Easy as Snap it in!





Just screw the Optional mount for the fan into the HDD Removable bay and done! Kinda glad as well I was able to use one of the holes to route the fan cable.







So far heres my progression with the fans installation! Personally loving how the color scheme is working out.





Time to get the PSU In BABY! Need some Power to this beast.





The 5.25in Bay pops right out from a Sliding mechanism they use so to say, and getting the DVD Drive ready to go in. (Sorry folks I am not a person who truely cares for blueray, I never had a use yet and dont intend to for a good amount of time still.)

[Cody_Irwin]

Hard Drive screwed in??? Check!







Heres where things start to get interesting too bad its the climax!. Aseteks Cooler, Intels Processor, and Asus Motherboard, Here we go! The HTPC Is starting to become alive.





First I setup the Asetek cooler, which was SOOO Painless on me, it was simply... Put the screwholes into correct socket holes for backplate, Put sticky pads on backplate, put backplate on back of motherboard lining all the holes into the motherboard.


Then the Coolers part was simply... Grab correct mounting plate so to say for the socket, and use the screw holders pretty much with the correct parts and snap them on so the screws can be held together with the mounting plate.


Simply use correct mounting screws for the socket, and screw it on, The screws stopped exactly when they needed to and I could not twist no more, like its a Failsafe from people tightening it too much which is quite a nice feature.





Here we have the HTPC Cming to life in this world with the PSU starting to be Attached to everything it needs to be as well as the Fans, and Connectors to the motherboard.
What glorious fun that was... (psst Hated it.)





So here... We have a Re-threading kit because turns out, I forgot screws for the Radiator, and was too late to goto the Hardware store. Well turns out I had no screws that were able to withstand being Re-Threaded and was a complete waste of time. Darn people making weak screws now these days.


Luckily The morning after I picked some up and just had to snip some threads off instead so I wouldnt screw it into the Radiator.







Everythings starting to get in place here... Notice I still dont have the radiator attached due to no screws still till the following morning. Also Looks like a tight squeeze for a push pull doesnt it? Well.. Find out reading more.


And yes, this was optimally the best without cutting up the case (which I hate doing so I dont) to cable manage. Hence why i wish I had more flexibility with some holes that should of been there but were not, only half of a hole was made haha.




Got my Zotac GTX 460 Amp! 1gb GPU Installed as well as my Asus Wireless card.


Look at all that room for future upgrades for more possibilities!





Oh hey, Morning arrives, and Look at that... Tight squeeze but not too tight at all! Notice how I removed the rubber grommets now? I had to take the Cougar 140mm fan off to get the Asetek Radiator+Cougars 2nd 120mm fan on inside, Push pull Accomplished guys! And still room for a great intake 140mm Cougar fan while the Asetek Cooler exausts.


Oh man am I having a hard time moving around now!







And here we have it. Even though its a bit Ugly Cable Managing, its literally almost the best with using EVERYTHING the case has to offer.


The airflow may look Restricted from the cables blocking, but in no ways is that happening, they are above the Cougar 120mm fan that is placed there, and is giving actually GREAT Airflow for being in that spot with no vent behind it, but only under it.


Overall I am Extremely pleased at how Cool, and silent this HTPC is running. The only concern with me is the HDD Mounting is not all that great for a HTPC Case for one reason.. My case vibrates from my 1tb HDD, which may cause problems for people these days making a Home theater setup with others stacked on top and below it.


Was shockingly sad with that only from the case after putting it together besides needing more cable management.


With the Liquid cooler from Asetek being Superb as usual for me and Cougars Vortex fans being sought out from everyone lately, and the Cougar CMX 700watt PSU This is one HELL of a quiet build using FULL Sized Components. Literally only hear the Hard Drive, Wish I had a SSD To use .


I wanted a Cooled and quite HTPC that will be in a enclosed space and I am Positive now that it will have 0 problems with this setup.





And here's the mess, besides UPS Boxes and all because I didn't have room to do that, I literally slept with all of them in my room on the bed. Oh how that was comfortable...haha.





So once again Thanks Asetek as well as Cougar World (germany) for sponsoring this build


I will have A pic or so up showing it in a few days or so in my Living room above my TV on the Shelf and how nice it looks there too =).


Let me know if you guys want any results I can perform to my best of ability if you have any to ask.


Or if you have any questions in general Please feel free to ask.




Thanks Everyone For Reading!

[Blacksmith1]

A few questions. I've been looking at the cougar fans recently, how well do you feel they perform? Did the radiator not come with mounting hardware or did you just mispalce it?What size M/B is that? (I'm not familiar with that model) As for tests, run a Prime95 torture test (pick the center choice) on that cpu and let's see how well that LCS works. based on what I see and the fan options you chose I'm betting it will do well.

[Cody_Irwin]

The cougar fans perform Amazing, they are stupidly quiet, and push Tons of air. Better then the Coolermaster Excalibur, and dead silent. If that gives you a idea.

Regarding the Radiator, All mounting Hardware came with it besides the screws for the fans, as well as no fans, because its a custom cooler they sent me according to them.

The motherboard is a standard atx, its a P8p67 Pro. So its a Regular sized Motherboard, after that size is E-ATX.

I did run a Prime 95 Torture test, for a few minutes because I overclocked the CPU and wanted to see how High it got, I will most likely not be overclocking unless I need to. The picture is located at the very top of the page. Pretty much the highest temps started dropping down and I knew around 70c was going to be the area the temperatures was going to be. Idle was 28c so over all a GREAT Cooler. At stock I see that it will go no higher then 55c most likely at full load at best.

[James86]

Nice Cody!

[Joshua_Mahr]

Nice Job! Now put some real vid cards in it! lol

[Blacksmith1]

That 460 isn't a bad card. I put the one I got from you into a buddy's sytem and he's playing everything on it.

[Cody_Irwin]

Nice Job! Now put some real vid cards in it! lol

That 460 is a 1gb model, and with Furmark Im getting 25fps on it, so its doing its job, as well as its also factory OC'ed so its quite good. I couldnt ask for more unless I SLI haha.

Or hey josh why dont you gimme one of the MILLIONS Of cards you have if you want me to put a "Real" Card in it =P

But yea guys, Well just got word back from asetek and the Custom cooler is aluminum cold plate, 120mm radiator, low profile pump, rubber tubes. Similar to the H40 but not completely, thats all the info I was supplied for now.